SINGAPORE - Keppel T&T is stepping up its broadband initiative in Europe and Asia. Through its wholly-owned telecom engineering arm,
Keppel Communications Pte Ltd.the new joint venture will service the global broadband network
design and project delivery market.

Besides Asia, this new venture also aims at establishing a
significant footprint in the European broadband market space.

The 60-40 joint venture company, to be named ECHO
Broadband (Singapore) Pte Ltd, will be majority held by Keppel
Communications with the remaining interest held by ECHO LLC, a
US-based venture owned by private investors.

ECHO is the first Singapore-headquartered company to
enable global broadband carriers to meet the needs of broadband
access businesses by designing and rolling out broadband
digital networks including hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) networks,
2-way cable TV, cable telephony and IP networks.

The Company will first focus on the lucrative broadband
project delivery markets in Asia, Europe and the Americas,
whose growth is fueled by explosive e-commerce activities and
rapid telecoms deregulation. The global broadband market is
forecasted to exceed US$26 billion by 2003 according to
InfoTech Trends.

ECHO has recently secured impressive wins -- the most
significant of which is their role in the largest broadband
network upgrade project in Europe being implemented by
Denver-based global communications development and operating company
Callahan Associates International LLC.

European Foray
In Germany, ECHO will be responsible for supporting the
design and delivery of 4.9 million cable home passes for the
North Rhine Westphalia cable operation (Kabel NRW). This will
enable the latter to deliver voice telephony, high-speed data
transmission, digital television programming and interactive
TV to subscribers in one of Germany's most prosperous
regions.

In France, ECHO is working to upgrade 500,000 cable home
passes for one of France's largest cable television companies,
NC Numericable, to allow the network to offer broadband voice,
video and data services.

In the Philippines, ECHO is supporting Broadband
Philippines' efforts to build the country's first broadband
wireless service that will significantly upgrade corporate
Internet capabilities.

In recognition of the demands of the global market, ECHO has
established a
pan-European technical hub in Bonn, Germany and a pan-Asian
hub in Penang, Malaysia with planned expansion into the
Americas.

The Bonn Technology Center will be the focal point for the
delivery of Kabel NRW network planning and engineering
services, whilst the Penang Technology Center will complement
the Bonn Technology Center in supporting the geographical
information-based (GIS) system design for broadband
communication projects implemented across the European and
Asian continents.

Mr. Jim Slattery, CEO and co-founder of ECHO pointed out,
"With production centres established in separate continents,
we are able to support customers with "always on" technical
capability. Our integrated delivery strategy is supported by
state-of-the-art communications infrastructure and web-based
project management applications, which enable 24 x 7
operation.

"This raises productivity levels for all projects and
accelerates
time-to-market roll out of broadband services for our
clients, ensuring their timely acquisition and retention of
revenue-generating end-customers."

To secure and deliver Asian broadband projects, the joint
venture will leverage on Keppel T&T's proven project management
experience, e-business solutions and in-depth understanding of
the local markets and resources in Asia.

The joint venture will also benefit from the vast industry
knowledge, global operational expertise and strategic business
networks of its three ECHO LLC partners who now form the core
management team of ECHO. They include Jim Slattery, David
Loehden and Chris McGuinness, who share more than 40 years of
experience in developing and delivering large-scale
infrastructure projects around the world.

Dr. Chia Boon Tat, CEO of Keppel Communications added,
"Broadband will power the future business and living
environments. As demand continues to intensify for broadband
access both in our homes and offices, we aim to deliver our
signature quality broadband last-mile connection to
customers.

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